Vadodara: A beautician living in Bhayli ended up paying almost Rs 1 lakh to three conmen who cheated her by saying that she had won Rs 8.2 lakh in a lucky draw.
The victim Ashwini Rana told police that she received a call on September 8 last year from a man named Nitish Kumar who identified himself as an employee of online marketplace Snapdeal. He told Rana that since she purchases beauty products from Snapdeal, she had been selected for a lucky draw and had won a cash prize of Rs 8.2 lakh.
Rana, however, was asked to pay Rs 2,150 through online transfer as fees for participation. After making the first payment, Rana started getting calls daily from Kumar and two other persons for transferring money in different bank accounts as various charges.
Police said that she was asked to pay the money for file processing charges, tax, GST and income-tax (I-T) among other reasons. Once when Rana refused to pay, she was told that I-T department will raid her home. On October 3 too, she was told that the prize money has been transferred to her bank account, but when she did not find any transaction entry, she called the accused to inquire. They made her pay Rs 20,000 more as bank charges, but the money never was never credited.
“After receiving Rs 99,950 from the woman, they stop taking her calls. It was only then that she realized being cheated,” said a police official.